Barak Lafer is an expert in maritime operations, technology management, and autonomous systems. He began his career as an officer in the Israeli Navy, graduating from the Israeli Naval Academy and serving for over eight years in various combatant positions, including as a Fast Patrol Craft Captain. Following his military service, Barak transitioned into the maritime and defense sectors, notably serving as the Director of Sales and Business Development for Israel Shipyards Ltd., where he led high-level naval defense programs across EMEA and APAC. He has since driven zero-to-one product strategy across the AI, IoT, and B2B SaaS industries, and holds an MBA focused on Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship from Tel Aviv University. Today, Barak serves as a Program Manager at Matrix, where he leads advanced maritime and naval autonomous programs, specializing in the development and deployment of Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) and Unmanned Underwater Vessels (UUVs).